+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>add/use configure check for <code>clock_gettime</code>, to
+ supersede <code>gettimeofday</code>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify configure script check for pkg-config library
+ directory to take into account an older version 0.15.0 which
+ used PKG_CONFIG_PATH but not PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>allow for MinGW32-/64-bit configurations to use
+ _DEFAULT_SOURCE</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify CF_XOPEN_SOURCE macro's amend default case to avoid
+ undefining _XOPEN_SOURCE if _POSIX_C_SOURCE is defined</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>updated configure script macro CF_XOPEN_SOURCE, for
+ uClibc-ng</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify version-check for gcc/g++, now works for msys2</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>build-fixes related to configure-options and/or
+ platform:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>fix for <tt>--enable-fvisibility</tt></li>
+
+ <li>fix for unusual values of
+ <tt>--with-rel-version</tt></li>
+
+ <li>fix for unusual values of
+ <tt>--with-abi-version</tt></li>
+
+ <li>fix for <tt>--disable-tcap-names</tt></li>
+
+ <li>fix for termcap in <tt>nc_access.h</tt></li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>other configure-script improvements:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>recent msys2 headers work with
+ <tt>_DEFAULT_SOURCE</tt>; amend check</li>
+
+ <li>use <tt>$ac_includes_default</tt> in most cases where
+ stdlib.h should work</li>
+
+ <li>use <tt>#error</tt> consistently vs "make an
+ error"</li>
+
+ <li>add configure macro for <tt>gettimeofday</tt> vs inline
+ check</li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>Here are some of the other portability fixes:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>modify configure scripts/makefiles to omit
+ <tt>KEY_RESIZE</tt> if the corresponding <tt>SIGWINCH</tt>
+ feature is disabled</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>increase <tt>MB_CUR_MAX</tt> to 16, matching glibc's
+ <tt>MB_LEN_MAX</tt></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>add BSD <tt>erase2</tt> to characters handled by
+ tset/reset</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>use <tt>getauxval</tt> when available, to improve
+ <tt>setuid</tt>/<tt>setgid</tt> checks</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>set <tt>dwShareMode</tt> in calls to
+ <tt>CreateConsoleScreenBuffer</tt></p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>use <tt>CreateFile</tt> with "<tt>CONIN$</tt>",
+ "<tt>CONOUT$</tt>" rather than <tt>GetStdHandle</tt> to
+ obtain a handle on the actual console, avoiding redirection
+ in the MinGW/Win32 configurations</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify MinGW driver to return <tt>KEY_BACKSPACE</tt> when
+ an unmodified <tt>VK_BACK</tt> virtual key is entered</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>modify MinGW configuration to provide for running in
+ MSYS/MSYS2 shells, assuming ConPTY support</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <hr>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-features" id="h2-features">Features of
+ <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
+
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package is fully
+ upward-compatible with SVr4 (System V Release 4) curses:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>All of the SVr4 calls have been implemented (and are
+ documented).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports the
+ features of SVr4 curses including keyboard mapping, color,
+ form drawing with ACS characters, and automatic recognition
+ of keypad and function keys.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> provides work-alike
+ replacements of SVr4 supplemental libraries based on curses,
+ but which were not specified by X/Open Curses:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>the panel library, supporting a stack of windows with
+ backing store</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>the menu library, supporting a uniform but flexible
+ interface for menu programming</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>the form library, supporting data collection through
+ on-screen forms</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span>'s terminal database
+ is fully compatible with that used by SVr4 curses.</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p><span class="main-name">ncurses</span> supports
+ user-defined capabilities that it can see, but which are
+ hidden from SVr4 curses applications using the
+ <em>same</em> terminal database.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>It can be optionally configured to match the format
+ used in related systems such as AIX and Tru64.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Alternatively, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
+ can be configured to use hashed databases rather than the
+ directory of files used by SVr4 curses.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> utilities have
+ options to allow you to filter terminfo entries for use with
+ less capable <em>curses</em>/<em>terminfo</em> versions such
+ as the HP-UX and AIX ports.</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> package also has
+ many useful extensions over SVr4:</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>
+ <p>The API is 8-bit clean and base-level conformant with the
+ X/Open Curses specification, XSI curses (that is, it
+ implements all <em>BASE</em> level features, and almost all
+ <em>EXTENDED</em> features). It includes many function calls
+ not supported under SVr4 curses (but portability of all calls
+ is documented so you can use the SVr4 subset only).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Unlike SVr3 curses, <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
+ can write to the rightmost-bottommost corner of the screen if
+ your terminal has an insert-character capability.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Ada95 and C++ bindings.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for mouse event reporting with X Window xterm and
+ FreeBSD and OS/2 console windows.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Extended mouse support via Alessandro Rubini's gpm
+ package.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The function <code>wresize</code> allows you to resize
+ windows, preserving their data.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The function <code>use_default_colors</code> allows you to
+ use the terminal's default colors for the default color pair,
+ achieving the effect of transparent colors.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The functions <code>keyok</code> and
+ <code>define_key</code> allow you to better control the use
+ of function keys, e.g., disabling the <span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> KEY_MOUSE, or by defining more
+ than one control sequence to map to a given key code.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for direct-color terminals, such as modern
+ xterm.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for 256-color terminals, such as modern xterm.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Support for 16-color terminals, such as <em>aixterm</em>
+ and <em>modern xterm</em>.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Better cursor-movement optimization. The package now
+ features a cursor-local-movement computation more efficient
+ than either BSD's or System V's.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Super hardware scrolling support. The screen-update code
+ incorporates a novel, simple, and cheap algorithm that
+ enables it to make optimal use of hardware scrolling,
+ line-insertion, and line-deletion for screen-line movements.
+ This algorithm is more powerful than the 4.4BSD curses
+ <code>quickch</code> routine.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Real support for terminals with the magic-cookie glitch.
+ The screen-update code will refrain from drawing a highlight
+ if the magic- cookie unattributed spaces required just before
+ the beginning and after the end would step on a non-space
+ character. It will automatically shift highlight boundaries
+ when doing so would make it possible to draw the highlight
+ without changing the visual appearance of the screen.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>It is possible to generate the library with a list of
+ pre-loaded fallback entries linked to it so that it can serve
+ those terminal types even when no terminfo tree or termcap
+ file is accessible (this may be useful for support of
+ screen-oriented programs that must run in single-user
+ mode).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The <a href="@HOMEPAGE@/man/tic.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tic</span></a>/<a href=
+ "@HOMEPAGE@/man/captoinfo.1m.html">captoinfo</a> utility
+ provided with <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> has the
+ ability to translate many termcaps from the XENIX, IBM and
+ AT&T extension sets.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>A BSD-like <a href=
+ "@HOMEPAGE@/man/tset.1.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">tset</span></a> utility is provided.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> library and
+ utilities will automatically read terminfo entries from
+ $HOME/.terminfo if it exists, and compile to that directory
+ if it exists and the user has no write access to the system
+ directory. This feature makes it easier for users to have
+ personal terminfo entries without giving up access to the
+ system terminfo directory.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>You may specify a path of directories to search for
+ compiled descriptions with the environment variable
+ TERMINFO_DIRS (this generalizes the feature provided by
+ TERMINFO under stock System V.)</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>In terminfo source files, use capabilities may refer not
+ just to other entries in the same source file (as in System
+ V) but also to compiled entries in either the system terminfo
+ directory or the user's $HOME/.terminfo directory.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>The table-of-entries utility <a href=
+ "@HOMEPAGE@/man/toe.1m.html"><span class=
+ "part-name">toe</span></a> makes it easy for users to see
+ exactly what terminal types are available on the system.</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>X/Open Curses permits most functions it specifies to be
+ made available as macros as well. ncurses does this</p>
+
+ <ul>
+ <li>to improve performance, e.g., for operations composed
+ of simpler functions such as cursor movement following by
+ adding text to the screen,</li>
+
+ <li>to simplify the implementation by reusing functions
+ which use common parameters, e.g., the standard screen
+ <code>stdscr</code>, and</li>
+
+ <li>to provide functions that return values via their
+ parameters</li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <p>Except for the last case, ncurses provides a non-macro
+ implementation of the function. If the macro definition is
+ disabled with <code>#undef</code>, or by defining
+ <code>NCURSES_NOMACROS</code> the function may be linked (and
+ its calls will be checked against the prototype).</p>
+ </li>
+
+ <li>
+ <p>Extensive documentation is provided (see the <em><a href=
+ "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html#additional_reading">Additional
+ Reading</a></em> section of the <em><a href=
+ "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses.faq.html"><span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> FAQ</a></em> for online
+ documentation).</p>
+ </li>
+ </ul>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-who-uses" id="h2-who-uses">Applications using
+ <span class="main-name">ncurses</span></a></h2>
+
+ <p>The <span class="main-name">ncurses</span> distribution
+ includes a selection of test programs (including a few games).
+ These are available separately as <a href=
+ "@HOMEPAGE@/ncurses-examples.html">ncurses-examples</a></p>
+
+ <p>The ncurses library has been tested with a wide variety of
+ applications including:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name">aptitude</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>FrontEnd to Apt, the debian package manager</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude">https://wiki.debian.org/Aptitude</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">cdk</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>Curses Development Kit</p>
+
+ <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/cdk/">@WEBSITE@/cdk/</a><br>
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">ded</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>directory-editor</p>
+
+ <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/ded/">@WEBSITE@/ded/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">dialog</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>the underlying application used in Slackware's setup,
+ and the basis for similar install/configure applications on
+ many systems.</p>
+
+ <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/dialog/">@WEBSITE@/dialog/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">lynx</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>the text WWW browser</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://lynx.invisible-island.net/">https://lynx.invisible-island.net/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">mutt</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>mail utility</p>
+
+ <p><a href="http://www.mutt.org/">http://www.mutt.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">ncftp</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>file-transfer utility</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://www.ncftp.com/">https://www.ncftp.com/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">nvi</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>New vi uses ncurses.</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/the-berkeley-vi-editor-home-page">
+ https://sites.google.com/a/bostic.com/keithbostic/the-berkeley-vi-editor-home-page</a><br>
+
+ </p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">ranger</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>A console file manager with VI key bindings in
+ <em>Python</em>.</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://ranger.github.io/">https://ranger.github.io/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">tin</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>newsreader, supporting color, MIME</p>
+
+ <p><a href="http://www.tin.org/">http://www.tin.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">vifm</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>File manager with vi like keybindings</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://vifm.info/">https://vifm.info/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>as well as some that use <span class=
+ "main-name">ncurses</span> for the terminfo support alone:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name">minicom</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminal emulator for serial modem connections</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://salsa.debian.org/minicom-team/minicom">https://salsa.debian.org/minicom-team/minicom</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">mosh</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>a replacement for <code>ssh</code>.</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://mosh.org/">https://mosh.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">tack</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminfo action checker</p>
+
+ <p><a href="@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html">@HOMEPAGE@/tack.html</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">tmux</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminal multiplexor</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki">https://github.com/tmux/tmux/wiki</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">vile</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p><em>vi-like-emacs</em> may be built to use the terminfo,
+ termcap or curses interfaces.</p>
+
+ <p><a href="@WEBSITE@/vile/">@WEBSITE@/vile/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <p>and finally, those which use only the termcap interface:</p>
+
+ <blockquote>
+ <dl>
+ <dt><span class="part-name">emacs</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>text editor</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/">https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">less</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>The most commonly used <em>pager</em> (a program that
+ displays text files).</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/">http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">screen</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>terminal multiplexor</p>
+
+ <p><a href=
+ "https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/">https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+
+ <dt><span class="part-name">vim</span>
+ </dt>
+
+ <dd>
+ <p>text editor</p>
+
+ <p><a href="https://www.vim.org/">https://www.vim.org/</a></p>
+ </dd>
+ </dl>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <h2><a name="h2-development" id="h2-development">Development
+ activities</a></h2>
+
+ <p>Zeyd Ben-Halim started <span class="main-name">ncurses</span>
+ from a previous package pcurses, written by Pavel Curtis. Eric S.
projects / ncurses.git / blobdiff